Addison Reed and the Mets’ Bumgarner Trade

You’ll see what I did there in a minute.

So, another trade deadline has come and gone, leaving most Mets fans very disappointed again. The mantra this year was sell, sell, sell and fleece, fleece, fleece desperate would-be contenders of the cream of their farm system. Kinda like what happened to Jim Duquette and the Mets back in 2004.

Instead, and for the first time ever in Met history, the team both bought and sold at the deadline. In chronological order, they traded Lucas Duda to Tampa, acquired A.J. Ramos from Miami and shipped Addison Reed to Boston. Unfortunately for GM Sandy Alderson, no one wanted Curtis Granderson, Asdrubal Cabrera or Neil Walker, so they remain Mets. This is a big part of the angst around here these days. The “haul” from this trio of deals, especially when compared to what happened cross-town, is the other contributing factor.

Of all the Mets on the block, I was least confident that Alderson could move Duda. Instead, he went first, for a now twice-traded Double-A relief prospect. The Ramos acquisition came totally out of the blue. I was actually impressed, as Sandy has been caricatured (and not unfairly) as a somewhat somnolent plodder, unable to multi-task. Instead, he proved his mettle to be able to both buy and sell, although Ramos is certainly a mixed bag. Ramos is also signed for next year, so there is that.

But his acquisition paved the way for the departure of Reed. Reed to Boston for three relief prospects was touted as a restock of the Mets depleted farm system, the addition of three “intriguing arms” that “could help soon” for what is essentially an expiring asset. Where oh where, I wondered, have I heard this one before? Then it hit me:

Backman’s time with the Mets had clearly come to an end, as the team was planning on inserting Gregg Jefferies into his spot at second base. This was the next in an ongoing series of missteps by Met management, dismantling the World Championship team without any significant return. One of the three (and I think it was Bumgarner, but my memory has faded) did actually show some promise for a while, but in typical Met fashion, he hurt his arm and his career stalled. Gasser never made it, depriving early 1990’s Met fans of seeing a Gasser-Sasser battery.

Look, none of us have any way of knowing if Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan or Stephen Nogosek are the next Nasty Boys or the next Bumgarner, Gasser and Nivens. With Callahan likely to be called up in September, the Mets will at the very least reap something more for Reed than their previous generation counterparts got for Wally Backman.

A Mets fan since 1971, Dan spent many summer nights of his childhood watching the Mets on WOR Channel Nine, which his Allentown, PA cable company carried. Dan was present at Game 7 of the 1986 World Series and the Todd Pratt Walkoff Game in 1999. He is also the proud owner of two Shea Stadium seats. Professionally, Dan is a Marketing Manager in the Bulk Materials Handling industry. He lives in Bethlehem PA with his wife and son, neither of whom fully get his obsession with the Mets.

Ya ever heard the saying, “There is no such thing as a pitching prospect”? Personally, I wouldn’t go that far, but I would definitely say that, “There is no such thing as a relief prospect.”

Hansel Robles was more of a prospect than any of the guys the Mets just acquired, and he’s who we’re looking to upgrade from.

If the Mets are looking to win in 2018, they need to have some *proven* relievers. And if they’re looking to round that out with a lottery grab bag, that can be had for free with non-roster invitees. These trades netted us nothing of significant value.

Given that two of the Reed prospects are Rule 5 eligible, it’s possible that these trades netted us nothing at all.

Maybe Ramos will rediscover his form from a few years back and we can re-sign Reed in the offseason…

DaveSchneckAugust 5, 2017 at 7:21 pm

Dan,
I must confess, in what has been just a dreadful and depressing 2017 Met season, you got me good with the Bumgarner headline. Just for a split second, optimism.

With the standard disclaimer that nobody, even the pro scouts, know what will be of these “prospects”, that 2 are rule 5 eligible and low ranked is just not exciting. The Ramos deal was clever, but like Argon said, given the Met bullpen assembly style, why should any fan think 2018 will be anything better that Familia-Ramos-Blevins and whomever else has a good spring. Reed will likely command big bucks, as will anyone with a decent track record. What are the chances of the Mets signing him or a similarly proven bullpen talent?